See Thao & the Get Down Stay Down Strum ‘Kindness Be Conceived’ in the California Light

S.F. singer/guitarist acoustically executes 'We the Common' highlight

Thao & the Get Down Stay Down’s latest album, We the Common, reveals the San Francisco artist to be as adept an arranger as she is a songwriter. But to see the mastermind Thao Nguyen sans bells and whistles is to realize what an incredible player she is as well. SPIN recently had a chance to witness her work at San Francisco’s Outside Lands (we also interviewed her for our ongoing festival podcast) and some of her set’s best moments were the barest. Above you’ll find Nguyen alone and at home, playing her Joanna Newsom team-up, “Kindness Be Conceived” on a seasoned old hollow-body. She blows on her hands before starting and fakes a sizzle sound as she touches the mike, but it might as well be real. Hit play above and watch a master do her thing, literally “in the California light.”